Cahokia Air Photo Analysis

An outgrowth of the Cahokia Mapping Project involved an analysis of aerial photographs of Cahokia. Included in the analysis was the collection of infrared and conventional aerial photographs along with the collection and archiving of historic air photos of the site. Among the air photos examined by UW-Milwaukee researchers were those collected by Lieutenants Goddard and Ramey of the United States Army Air Service in 1922, and Lt. Dache Reeves in 1933.

The air photos taken by Lt. George W. Goddard and his assistant Lt. H.K. Ramey in are credited with being the first air photos of an archaeological site taken in the United States.

The Reeves photos provide researchers with an aerial mosaic of the Cahokia site as it was in 1933. The Reeves photos are also notable in that they are the first photos to provide a vertical aerial view of Monk's Mound.

As historic resources, the aerial photographs collected by Goddard and Ramey and Reeves are invaluable, as they provide us with a view of the Cahokia site before urban expansion and intensive agriculture forever altered the site.